1. Advertising and Publicity – These days everybody is going for things, which they see on air. Advertising and Publicity hold a very strong role in any products life cycle, it helps the public know about the existence of the products and the role, which they play in the lives of the people. MetLife believes in strong ethics and believes that actions speak more than words and so want its work to prove for itself and so doesn’t believe in advertising and publicizing itself but in the Indian context it is a must for any company to publicize itself because it holds the best medium to reach to its customers and also to increase its customer base.
2. Implementation of CRM – While the insurance sector is seeking to maintain a balance between acquiring customers and developing existing ones, customer acquisition is vital, as no retention strategy will entirely stem customer defection. Today, the focus is on selling more products to existing customers to improve profitability. Customer-focused strategies require CRM (customer relationship management) to help acquire customers thorough various touch points and translate operational data into actionable insights for proactively serving customers.
CRM with BI (Business Intelligence) tools can help insurance firms monitor the holistic 360-degree view of their customer. CRM has helped customers through effective event-based marketing and lead tracking to cross- and up-sell products. CRM helps categorise and segment customers and align products that best suit them.
3. Strengthening the distribution network – MetLife India mainly operates in all the metros and in certain big cities. In order to expand its position and to reach to its customers what MetLife needs is to set-up its branches in more cities and should also get into the rural areas where there is a huge untapped market. As MetLife already has a wide global set up it can easily expand in India also in order to reach to the customers and be available at their door steps.
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4. Strong tie-ups with well known and already established companies or banks – Tie-ups act as a backbone for any company as they too represent the main company as a whole. MetLife being associated with banks such as Jammu & Kashmir bank, Dhanlakshmi bank & the Karnataka bank, which in itself are not so common with the general mass, makes it difficult for MetLife to get itself placed in the Indian market. For overcoming the same MetLife can go for further mergers and acquisitions with strong banks which would help it grow, for example, it announced its intention to purchase Citigroup's Travelers Life &
Annuity and substantially all of Citigroup's international business for $11.5 billion. Such purchases and tie-ups would help it strengthen its roots and create its own niche in the Indian market.
5. Product diversification – Instead of catering to only one kind of product MetLife can slowly diversify with the kind of products it deals with. MetLife only provides life insurance products; it can get into the debt market by providing housing loans and various other vehicle loans as these are on a high these days.
6. Emphasis on use of Information Technology – In the insurance industry today, there is a clear trend away from selling a broad range of products to a large volume of customers in a one –size-fits-all manners. Instead of focusing on their different products lines as silos (i.e., life, property and casualty etc) insurers are looking for ways to offer highly targeted insurance products that are tailored to the individuals customers with the highest propensity to buy them. There is a evolutionary change in the technology that has revolutionized the entire insurance sector. Insurance industry is a data-rich industry, and thus, there is dire need to use the data for trend analysis and personalization.
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CONCLUSION
The exhaustive research in the field of Life Insurance threw up some interesting trends which can be seen in the above analysis. A general impression that I gathered during Data collection was the immense awareness and knowledge among people about various companies and their insurance products. People are beginning to look beyond LIC for their insurance needs and are willing to trust private players with their hard earned money.
People in general have been impressed by the marketing and advertising campaigns of insurance companies. A high penetration of print, radio and Television Ad campaigns over the years is beginning to have its impact now.
Another heartening trend was in terms of people viewing insurance as a tax saving and investment instrument as much as a protective one. A very high number of respondents have opted for insurance for such purposes and it shows how insurance companies have been successful to attract public money in recent times.
The general satisfaction levels among public with regards to policy and agents still requires improvement. But therein lies the opportunity for a relative player like MetLife India Insurance Co. Ltd. LIC has never been known for prompt service or customer oriented.
The brand of MetLife Insurance appeals to growing middle-income group. It has the support of an aggressive foreign bank at its back; Its market position is strong Shareholders return has grown by 7 times and more till date.
MetLife Insurance maintains the position of word leading Cash Management Provider. Its improved product proposition attracts one and all; it is one of the most profitable MNC in India. It is a multicultural organization providing good support of efficient Managers.
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In my view , company should focus rather more on these issues to win the market:
➢ Expansion of Customer base
➢ Improvement in Quality of the Services
➢ Increased Customer Satisfaction
➢ Consistent Business Growth
➢ Increase in Profitability
➢ Retaining The Customer
➢ Choose the best Financial Advisors
➢ Develop the Financial Advisor’s skills
➢ Give the opportunities them in the organization
➢ More Advertising
LIMITATIONS
1.The research is confined to a certain parts of DELHI and does not necessarily shows a pattern applicable to all of Country.
2.Some respondents were reluctant to divulge personal information which can affect the validity of all responses.
3.In a rapidly changing industry, analysis on one day or in one segment can change very quickly. The environmental changes are vital to be considered in order to assimilate the findings.
4.Sample size was only restricted to 50.
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Lack of time is also a major limitation for the project.6.Projections regarding environmental and political basis can be change.
7.Data Interpretation: After the data collection process, it was essential to interpret them to figure out the result. The data collected are expressed with the help of Bar graphs and Pie-Charts which is difficult to understand.
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